Watching History Not Being Made

I've seen a lot of football games, and every Super Bowl (IIRC), and I can't remember a Super Bowl that was nearly as good as this one: closely played right down to the end with every yard fought for as if the game depended on it.

Thank God, because the ads during the first half of the game were awful.

I imagine that lots of commentators will not like it because it was a defensive masterpiece on the part of the Giants, and defense just does not get appreciated by the folks who want NFL scores to look like NBA scores. At least the TV coverage showed some replays of the blitz packages that NY used to neutralize the totally superior offensive line of NE.

The one game it reminded me of, early on, was the 10-10 tie between Michigan State and Notre Dame that I saw in person in 1966. Every inch was contested, even on a 2 yard run. Exceptional plays were needed to evade the defense, like Manning's move that might have won the game. Every hit was solid with no cheap shots. The only difference is that holding is totally legal now, so the only way to beat your man around the end was what Strahan did: get far enough away that he could not grab on.

And hearty congrats to Chad over at Uncertain Principles whose New York Football Giants won the game. He even got it almost right, saying it would be decided by a field goal in his anti-woofing pick of the Patriots. But one of my co-workers, from Rhode Island, is going to be very unhappy tomorrow morning.

Note added: She was very unhappy this morning. She even wore black.

For the record, my prediction was that it would be won by the last team to score, although I made that at halftime when it was clear this was going to be a defensive struggle with every score a challenge.